Within Japan, fishermen’s unions fear that public anxiety about the safety of the water could affect their livelihoods. BackgroundEver since a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 led to a meltdown at the Fukushima plant, Tepco, as the power company is known, has used water to cool the ruined nuclear fuel rods that remain too hot to remove. As the water passes through the reactors, it picks up nuclear materials. What’s NextThe first release of 7,800 tons of treated water is expected to last about 17 days. To compensate fishermen who lose business due to public anxiety, the Japanese government is allocating 80 billion yen ($552 million).

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Persons: Yoon Suk, Miharu, Hisako Ueno Organizations: Japan, Tepco, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA Locations: China, South Korea, Japan, Tokyo